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Mark Elliot at the Better Bike table for Earth Day 2012

Let us how we can help you make our city more bike-friendly. Drop Mark Elliot a line!

But remember that City Hall really needs to hear from you too. The next time you hit a big pothole, or get sideswiped by a motorist, or can’t find a bike rack, or generally are fed up with the sorry state of bike planning in Beverly Hills, pick up the phone to ask City Hall what our leaders are doing to keep cyclists safe. Find a list of handy numbers below!

Key Contact Numbers for Beverly Hills City Hall

City Council is the key policy-making body for Beverly Hills. Five Council members represent every district in the city (an at-large system) so you need to talk to more than just one. Reach the City Council at (310) 285-1013.
Public Works & Transportation oversees the infrastructure and programs that most affect cyclists. They also provide staff support to City Council regarding transportation policies and program. It is essential that they hear from you! Reach Transportation at (310) 285-2452.
Traffic & Parking Commission is advisory to City Council on matters related to traffic and parking. Reach the Traffic & Parking Commission staff at (310) 285-2452.
Recreation & Parks Commission oversees parks, cultural landmarks, and summer recreation programming. It is advisory to City Council. Reach Rec & Parks at (310) 285-2536.
Public Works Commission advises on big-ticket items like capital investment and even bike infrastructure. Reach a Public Works staffer at (310) 285-2462.
Planning Commission is the policy-setting body for land use and planning matters. It would be the body that handles parking set-asides, for example, and other project-level requirements. Reach a Planning staffer at (310) 285-1141.
Beverly Hills Unified School District enjoys significant power as a stand-alone body backed by a fat bond issue. Their facilities master planning process is underway and presents an opportunity to secure bike-friendly improvements. Contact the district at (310) 551-5100.

Let us know what you find out!

High Cost of Free Parking Indeed!

Posted on May 15, 2013 by Mark Elliot

Call us local government enthusiasts: we like when light is shined on the black box that is City Hall. Then we learn how past policy decisions shape today’s challenges and potentially constrain opportunities tomorrow. In City Council’s budget session on Monday [mp3], we gained a clear picture about how the decision to offer two hours of free parking in city garages not only “drained” (the Treasurer’s term) our general fund of $16 million, but put us on on the hook for almost $5 million more every year. The ‘high cost of free parking’ indeed! Oh, how feel-good policy decisions like ‘free parking for everyone’ can have deep and long-lasting effect on the city budget. At least that was the message … Continue reading →

We Hope AKA Hotel Bicycles Come With a Helmet

Posted on May 17, 2013 by Mark Elliot

AKA Hotels, a new, upmarket extended-stay hotel chain with a new outpost here in Beverly has added “complimentary use of exclusive AKA bicycles” to its service roster. It’s the first hotel in town to offer bikes, and we think it’s a great idea. We’d love to see our tourists riding about town! But there’s a problem: according to Beverly Hills Police Department data, 45 people have been injured while riding a bicycle in Beverly Hills over the past year. Thirteen of them were struck within an easy half-mile of the AKA hotel and four within a block or two. We sure hope they’ll be wearing AKA helmets!

While AKA Hotel is doing its part to reduce car traffic by putting tourists on bicycles, it sure looks like it is ground-zero for bike-involved injury collisions! Have a look at the past year’s bicycle-involved collision injuries near the hotel:

AKA Hotel proximate collisions map Six of the incidents citywide were hits-and run – not even including the recent April 3rd incident only seven blocks from the hotel wherein a motorist attempted to kill a rider with a vehicle then fled. That driver is still on the loose.

We applaud AKA for stepping forward to encourage cycling when our city is loathe to encourage anyone to ride. But maybe City Hall knows something that we don’t. Until we saw this data, we didn’t know how dangerous the streets really were in our ‘hood. But City Hall knows. Without bike-friendly streets and nary a posted ‘share the road’ sign, you know, maybe Beverly Hills is to dangerous to ride. We sure hope hotel patrons are provided a complimentary AKA helmet when riding around town. It looks like they’ll need it.

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Key Contact Numbers for Beverly Hills City Hall

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High Cost of Free Parking Indeed!

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We Hope AKA Hotel Bicycles Come With a Helmet